Broken Families
by kayleyangel
Summary: When everyone else is gone, who can Cordelia turn to? Her aunt Minerva of course. (Reuploaded... again!)
1. The Race for Safety

Author: kayleyangel

Title: Broken Families

Rating: PG-15

Keywords: Buffy/Harry Potter

Summary: Cordelia takes Connor to the one place she believes is safe, her Aunt Minerva's office in Hogwarts.

Legalese: All characters except those noted below with their respective rights, properties and copyrights are the property of their respective creators, authors, owners, producers and agencies. These characters are used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended or meant, and no money will be made from this story. This story may be copied in its entirety, and may be distributed as long as all copyright information remains.

Author's Notes: My first attempt at writing a fic based around Connor and Cordelia from Angel and McGonagall from Harry Potter. If they seem a little out of character, I apologise.

Dedications: To Kitty Lark (Katie) for setting this challenge and her birthday.

Prologue

It had been just two nights since Wesley had taken his own life. Two weeks since Wesley had staked Angel in belief that he would kill his own son. And it had been just under two minutes since Cordelia had had another brain numbing vision. A vision, which would change the course of not only her life, but that of her recently dusted boss' son and everyone else that worked in Angel Investigations. The vision had left nothing to her imagination and she knew that she had to get Connor out of the Hyperion Hotel and soon.

"Fred, Gunn, Lorne!" she called out as she sprinted into Connor's room.

The little angel was sleeping peacefully, unaware that he was in mortal danger. For not only was he a miracle, but as the son of two powerful vampires, he was an oddity and looked upon in the demon world as a saviour or a destroyer. Careful not to wake him, Cordelia began to toss his belongings into a bag. He was the only thing that she was concerned about. She had always promised Angel that if something was to happen to him, she would protect his son as if he was her own. There was no way that Cordelia Chase would ever back down on a vow she had made to him.

By the time the other three had made it to Connor's room, Cordelia had virtually packed everything needed for a long trip. She was ready to run but first she needed to grab a few things of her own, especially a necklace and her purse.

"Princess?" Lorne asked as they walked into the room. "What's happening sugar plum?"

"Brain numbing vision. I need to get Connor out of here but I need a distraction. Please?" she said as she strapped Connor into the baby pack and settled him in front of her chest.

"I'll get the weaponry," Gunn replied. "Any ideas on what we're dealing with?"

"Lawyers, vampires and a few demons," Cordelia rattled off quickly. "Gunn… be careful."

"Always."

He gave her a quick, careful hug before racing down the stairs. Lorne was next to hug her carefully, as not to wake Connor.

"Take care Cordelia," he said. "Sweet dreams, sweet prince. She'll get you through this."

He headed after Gunn even though he hated to fight. But for Connor and Cordelia, he wouldn't let them down. It left the two girls standing there in the silence for a moment before the hugging started.

"Fred…" Cordelia began. "Thanks for everything, for your help, your friendship when I needed it."

"Thank you for saving me, now it's my turn to pay you back. Just take care of him for me, and don't forget to tell him about us."

With that Fred fled the room and down the stairs towards the only remaining members of AI, leaving Cordelia to head to her room to grab the final things she needed. Now she could only hope the necklace would work like her Aunt had promised. She concentrated on her Aunt's face and called out her name just as the sound of fighting began.

"Minerva McGonagall."


	2. Stronger than You Look

When Cordelia dared to open her eyes, she noticed that she was in a rather neat office space with red and gold trimmings. It had a fire place down one end and a desk with a cat sleeping on it at the other. Bookshelves lined majority of the walls except for the one with the fire. Above the fire, a large portrait of someone that Cordelia didn't know was glancing at the newcomer.

Cordelia spared a quick glance down at the baby asleep in the baby pouch as she investigated the office. It was amazing that Connor was still asleep after everything that had happened from the time Cordelia had burst into his room. Hopefully he would be content to stay asleep until after she found her aunt.

"Hey kitty kitty," she whispered not really wanting to wake the cat. But she wanted to try to ease some papers from off the desk, just to find out for sure if she was in the right office.

Sure enough, there was the name of Professor McGonagall on the front of the parchment. So Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief, it had worked as it was supposed to. She was in Hogwarts; she was safe for the time being. Now if only she could find her aunt.

The cat had opened one eye and was watching her as she shuffled round the odds and ends in the office. She was impressed at its size and once again she was reminded of Angel. She had asked him over and over again if she could have an office. Then when he had given in, she complained that it wasn't big enough for her.

"Oh Angel," she began to sob. "You had so much left to achieve before you were supposed to be killed. And now, I'm alone and looking after a baby on my own and I have no idea as to what I am supposed to be doing."

She dropped to the floor in front of the fire, unaware of the cat getting up off the desk, nor of the cat going through a change. She was still oblivious when her aunt walked up and wrapped her arms around her.

"Cordelia, it's alright. Minnie's here to help."

The words broke Cordelia out of her slump and she jumped up ready to defend herself before she realised what had been said. Relaxing again, Cordelia turned to look at her aunt.

"Aunt Minnie," she said still rather upset. She rushed into her aunt's arms, careful not to jostle or squish Connor too much. "I had no where else to go."

"My dear, can you tell me what has happened?" her aunt asked as she navigated them to the small sofa in front of the fire.

To Minerva, her niece was looking awfully fragile and pale. Nothing like she had remembered the last time she had gone to visit the family. In reality, Cordelia was in actual fact her great-great-great niece but it was only told to the children once they came of age and if they realised that their aunt didn't look like she was aging normally. Cordelia was the only one who knew before she had become of age. Maybe it had been an effect of living on the Hellmouth. Whatever it was from, Cordelia always prided herself on being able to stand up to anything that came her way. So to have her here in tears, looking lost and alone was a shock to Minerva.

"Aunt Minnie, I'm so confused."

"Do you want me to hold the baby while you get comfortable?" Minerva asked. She watched as Cordelia firstly pulled away protectively, covering as much of the baby as possible before finally undoing the straps.

"His name is Connor, and as of two weeks ago, he is my son."

Relief was evident on Minerva's face; Cordelia hadn't given birth to the sleeping boy, but if she was claiming him as hers, then Minerva decided she had the right to get to know her newest nephew.

"Cordelia honey, why don't you start at the start and tell me everything," she prodded again wanting to understand why her niece had adopted the boy and suddenly appeared in her office. She knew that she had used the necklace and was in a way glad that Cordelia had figured that her aunt would be able to help. But what exactly was she running from?

Flashback

"Wes, what are you doing?" Angel asked as he noticed Wesley pulling out a stake and heading in his direction.

"The father will kill the son," Wesley whispered as he closed the distance. "I will not let that happen, not to Connor."

"You think I would kill my own son?" Angel growled. "Never!"

His face morphed slightly between his human and his vampire faces. With that he rushed Wesley and punched him once, strong enough to knock him out. He grabbed the stake from Wesley's clutch and shook his head. What made Wesley believe he would kill an innocent child?

He decided to leave Wesley in his office to wake up and cool down while he tried to make sense of Wesley's words. Wes knew he loved Connor and that he would give up his eternal life for him. So why was he suddenly expecting Angel to murder his own boy?

Turning his back on Wesley, Angel started to leave the office. Little did he know, Wesley hadn't actually been knocked unconscious. Little did he know, Wesley had another stake hidden on him. And he never expected Wesley to be the kind to stab someone in the back. So he definitely didn't expect to turn to dust.

Cordelia had arrived in the room just as Wesley had struck. She rushed to the weapons cupboard and grabbed a sword before turning to face him, the sword held between them.

"Are you going to kill me now?" she demanded. "Do I need to warn the others that you'll be after them too?"

"Cordelia, I had to kill him," Wesley answered. "He was going to kill Connor. I did it to protect his son."

"He would never hurt Connor," Cordelia protested, stepping closer to him while still keeping the sword at the ready.

"There was a prophecy Cordelia, that the father would kill the son."

"Right, a prophecy," Cordelia said in disbelief. "And considering you know Buffy and what she's managed to do, you took this prophecy to be a 100% true and took it upon yourself to be his judge and executioner?"

"Cordy, you don't understand…"

"No Wes, you don't understand. How many times do prophecies come true exactly as they are written? Buffy will die at the hands of the Master, true but did she stay dead? No. So maybe, Angel was to kill Connor but what's to stop modern day medicine from bringing him back?"

Dropping the sword, Cordelia swept from the room to notify the others what had happened to Angel. Then she had to call Angel's one true love, Buffy Summers. During the call, the two girls cried over Angel and Cordelia felt herself truly grieving for her boss.

Over the next two weeks, Cordelia avoided Wesley, as did the others. Fred worked hard on researching the prophecy that Wesley had so blindly followed while Gunn took the workload onto himself and went into overdrive.

Finally Fred had found the truth and presented it to the group as well as Wesley. A little later the group heard a gunshot and when they went to investigate, they found Wesley dead.

Tears were streaming down Cordelia's face as she explained the vision to her aunt and how she had left her friends to die when she escaped.

"Cordelia, you did what you could. You promised to protect the boy and you did. The others made up their minds to assist you in the way that they did. Do not pity them, instead celebrate the fact that if they died after you left, it would have been in the way that they chose, to die in battle to save an innocent's life."

"You're right, Aunt Minnie but it's still hard to believe everything that has happened. Now I have no idea what to do, how to raise a child… any of that."

"And has having no idea stopped you before? When your parents split up, you managed to get through it, when your father was arrested for tax fraud, you got through the change in lifestyle. You managed to get through the changes in the towns you have lived in. You managed to not only confront you fears but you also fought your fears," Minerva softly ranted. "Now are you going to let a little thing like not knowing how to do something stop you from attempting it?"

"No Aunt Minnie."

"Good, now I have class I must go and teach but feel free to have a look around the office while I am gone," Minerva said. "I must ask you refrain from going outside of this office until I return as I must inform Professor Dumbledore of your arrival and the need for you to stay here."

"Okay, I'll stay here. I think I'll have a short nap."

"Certainly dear." 


	3. Scents and Heartbeats

Remus Lupin hurried towards the staffroom in which Dumbledore had called a meeting. As he passed by McGonagall's office, he could hear someone sobbing. Worried that McGonagall might be hurt, he knocked gently on the door.

When no one answered, he opened the door and looked inside. His heightened senses picked up the scent of two unknowns, and the heartbeat of both. The first heartbeat was clearly human and matched the scent of a young female. The second though worried Remus. The heartbeat was too slow to be human but it didn't match anything that Remus could recall. The scent was one of a human baby but it also smelt of death. It didn't match up.

Creeping closer, Remus noticed it was indeed a young woman with a baby. She was sobbing in her sleep, holding the baby close to her. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder to try to calm her down but no sooner had his hand touched than the girl's eyelids snapped open and she jumped up to stand in a defensive position.

"Who are you?" she demanded, no sign of weakness showing in her stance or voice.

"I'm sorry to worry you, my name is Remus Lupin, I am a professor here at Hogwarts," he quickly apologised.

She backed down slightly, but he could sense she was still tense. He also noticed she was between him and the baby.

"Cordelia Chase, where is Minerva?"

"I believe she would be at a staff meeting, I was just on my way there myself but I could hear you sobbing and thought it was her," he justified himself without knowing why, "Is everything okay Miss Chase?"

"Fine, everything is just fine," she sighed. "It's just been a couple of rough days."

"Tell me about it," Remus agreed, thinking of the last night's change. Thankful that Snape had brewed his Wolfsbane potion. "Miss Chase, are you staying here long?"

"Yes, I…" she started before grabbing her head and shaking. "Oh god! No! No!"

"Miss Chase!" Remus looked at her alarmed. He didn't know what to do. "DOBBY!"

The house elf suddenly appeared at his side.

"Master Lupin, what can Dobby do sir?"

"Go to Dumbledore, get Professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey to come back here immediately."

With that, Dobby had disappeared and Remus was left to try to calm down the now screaming baby who had woken up with Cordelia's yelling. He picked up the small baby and gently rocked him. His senses were screaming at the proximity of the baby but he tried his hardest to settle the baby down.

Before long the door burst open and in rushed Professor McGonagall followed by Madame Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore.

"Professor Lupin, what happened here?" Dumbledore asked as McGonagall ran to the crying girl.

Remus explained the story as McGonagall finally got the girl settled down. Madame Pomfrey called a stretcher and gently raised the girl onto it. As the stretcher floated passed Remus, the girl's eyes locked onto him.

"Lock yourself up tonight. The potion won't work as intended. Someone wants you out there to kill. Stay inside."

McGonagall didn't seem surprised by her announcement but the others in the room certainly were. Instead she reached for the baby in Remus' arms and gently lifted him to her.

"Trust her Remus, she knows what she is talking about."

With that, she followed Madame Pomfrey out of the office. Remus and Dumbledore shared a look and decided to follow.

Cordelia woke up in some kind of hospital ward, the whiteness of the room hurt her still sensitive eyes. Her head throbbed but not as badly as before. She looked around through squinted eyes and noticed her aunt in a chair next to her bed holding Connor closely to her.

"Aunt Minnie?" Cordy asked weakly.

"You're awake, heavens girl you frightened me."

"Sorry Aunt Minnie," she automatically apologise. "That man, Remus Lupin. Did he understand what I told him?"

"Yes dear, he will listen to you."

Cordelia sank back in the bed in relief. She opened her arms and Minerva carefully placed Connor into them. Cordy cuddled him gently, loving stroking his head.

"What am I going to do Minnie? I can't continue with the pain," she admitted. "But I don't want to loose these visions. It's too much of a link to Doyle."

Her aunt looked at her in sympathy. The young girl's life had never been simple. She knew too much about the world that normal humans tried hard to overlook. Going to high school with the Slayer and then working with a half demon and a vampire was sure to make her a little unusual in the normal world but within the magic world, it could just be an advantage. But the whole visions deal needed to be dealt with. Somehow they had to overcome the pain barrier.

"Sweetheart, Madame Pomfrey is already investigating it. She will work with Professor Snape to see if they can create a potion or a spell to reduce the pain."

"Thank you Aunt Minnie."

"Sleep now dear, I'll take Connor to my room and watch over him."

Remus waited until McGonagall had left the hospital ward before seeking out Cordelia. He crept towards her bed, hoping Madame Pomfrey didn't hear him. She looked peaceful and asleep, to which he softly cursed. He needed to know what she knew.

He didn't notice her eyes opening up when he curse and he turned to leave when he felt a hand grab his wrist. Turning back around he noticed the now awake Cordelia.

"Stay a moment," she whispered. "You have questions?"

"Yes. What do you know about me? What happened?" he whispered back.

"What you witnessed was a message from the Powers that Be. I am a seer for them. They let me know when there is danger that is needed to be stopped. My friends go out… went out and saved who needed to be saved," she said trying not to cry as she remembered Angel, Wesley and her other friends who had died recently. Taking a deep breath she went on.

"I know that you are a werewolf and I don't care. Aunt Minnie explained to me that in this world you are treated as subhuman. In high school one of my closest friends was dating a werewolf so I have no issues with it. Oz was cool, maybe one day we can introduce the two of you," she smiled wistfully as she remembered the Sunnydale crew. No matter how hard she had tried to pretend that they weren't friends, she knew that they were.

"The vision showed me what would happen tonight if you only took the potion and stayed unchained. Someone slipped something into it and it makes the wolf more vicious. I saw you ripping into a young boy who had snuck out of the school. When the vision stopped, you were covered in blood."

She thought about it. The reason she had been sent the vision must have been to protect the boy; otherwise it didn't make sense. She had never received visions when other werewolves had attacked unless the human side of the werewolf was as vicious as the wolf side.

"Is there anything special about the young boy? He was wearing glasses and had dark, messy hair…" she begun describing the victim.

"And a lightning bolt scar on his forehead," Remus whispered the rest of what she was going to say. "I was going to kill Harry."

"You know him?"

"He's practically my son," Remus admitted. "Harry's parents were killed when he was a baby by a dark wizard. The wizard tried to kill Harry but the curse he used bounced off Harry and reflected back at him. Everyone thought that the wizard was dead. Unfortunately we now know that's wrong. Harry found out only about six years ago about being a wizard and everywhere he goes in the wizarding world he is known as The Boy Who Lived. He's the only one to ever live through the curse."

"How does that make him your son?"

"What he doesn't know is that I have been watching out for him whenever I could. His parents were my best friends through Hogwarts and I was shattered to hear that they had been killed. Now whenever he needs help, I hope that I will be there for him. He's had a really rough life. The wizard has tried several more times to kill him and managed to kill his godfather who had gone to save him…"

"And now he's in danger from you."

Remus shuddered at the thought of hurting Harry. It was not possible but he decided to trust Cordelia and decided to find a way to be chained up so he wasn't a danger.

"I'll leave you to your sleep. Thank you for answering the questions," he murmured.

"Come back and see me tomorrow," Cordelia replied sleepily. "Let me know how you go tonight."

"I will," he replied and then bent down to lay a soft kiss on her forehead as he heard her heartbeat slow. "Goodnight Cordelia."

Cordelia smiled as the door shut behind him before snuggling back down in the bed. 


	4. So Full of Life

The next morning saw a sluggish Remus Lupin enter the hospital ward. As soon as he entered, he could smell blood. Worried that he might have hurt someone the night before, forgetting that he was locked up, he rushed towards the scent. Instead of a bleeding body, all he found was Cordelia feeding the baby a bottle of milk, which had a slight pink tinge to it.

"You're bleeding," he accused.

"I know, considering I cut myself on purpose, it would be hard not to know," she shot back gently.

"But why? Is he... is he drinking blood in his milk?" Remus was alarmed at the concept of the whole thing.

"Well his parents were vampires, of course he has blood in his milk."

Cordelia had thought that Remus couldn't look worse than what he looked when he had walked in, but she was wrong. Upon revealing that Connor's parents were vampires which was why he had blood in his milk, Remus had paled even further.

"His parents are what?" he asked.

"His parents were vampires," Cordelia repeated slowly. Her voice caught in her throat as she added. "As in no longer vampires as they have been dusted."

Remus sat down next to Cordelia still in shock but before he could speak again Madame Pomfrey came bustling out of her office. She took one look at Remus before rushing back with some pepper up potion. She gave it to him and watched him until he had drunk the lot of it.

A movement at the door to the ward startled them all. In walked the boy from Cordelia's vision covered in boils. Remus took one look at him and rushed to his side, Madame Pomfrey just behind.

"What's happened Harry?" Remus asked.

"Neville's cauldron exploded... again," Harry answered with a wry grin. "It's just not Potions without an exploding cauldron. Snape still can't believe that Neville got into the NEWT class."

He laughed which caused a boil to burst, to which Cordelia let her revulsion known.

"EWWWWWWWW! And I thought fungus demons had it rough, that's disgusting!"

Harry heard the unknown voice and looked towards the bed it came from. Seeing someone he didn't know, he automatically tried to brush his hair down in front of his scar, tensing while doing so. When she didn't react at all, he relaxed slightly.

"Fungus demons?" he asked her.

"Yeah, ugly looking things that are really quite vicious when they want to be... guess you would have to be if you were made of fungus too," she thought aloud.

She thought of the time that she and Doyle had been set upon by fungus demons and sighed in memory. It was only a week before he sacrificed himself to save the half demons. One week before she received the brain splitting visions.

Harry shot a look at Remus who just shrugged. He didn't know that there was such a thing as a fungus demon and he was the Dark Arts professor.

"Harry Potter, this is Miss Cordelia Chase. Miss Chase this is Harry Potter," Remus introduced the pair to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Oh hey Harry, I take it you're a student here? What's that like?"

Harry was taken back by the lack of reaction to his name. Most people would have at least shown some kind of reaction on their faces. But maybe, he could be around this girl without having to worry that she wanted something.

"It's not too bad," he began to answer as Madame Pomfrey tugged on his arm.

"Mister Potter, I do believe you should drink this and then go back to class. I know that you won't listen to me if I tell you to stay here now right?"

"Madame Pomfrey you know me too well," Harry replied before turning to Cordelia. "I have this thing about hospitals. I don't like them!"

"You and me both!" Cordelia agreed before burping Connor.

A little while later Harry was in the common room with Hermonie and Ron. He was telling them about the girl he had met in the hospital ward. They listened intently to his description and he's conversation with her plus her lack of a reaction to his scar and name.

"So you think she's a muggle?" Ron asked.

"Were you even listening to him? Seriously Ron, of course she is a muggle," Hermonie snapped. "And Professor Lupin was talking to her when you came in?"

"He was taking a potion so no, he wasn't talking to her, but he was really close to her," he replied. Then he remembered something. "And she was talking about fungus demons. 'Monie, do you know anything about fungus demons? We haven't covered them in Dark Arts have we?"

"Fungus demons? No, I didn't even realise that they existed," she replied as a familiar gleam entered her eyes.

"Thanks a bloody lot Harry," Ron groaned. "Now she's not going to leave the library."

Hermonie shot him a look before stalking out of the common room, leaving Harry to shake his head at Ron.

Cordelia was realised from the hospital ward later that afternoon. Minerva was there to escort her to her new room and surprisingly so was Remus. She smiled at him and the three headed down to the guest quarters closest to Minerva.

When they entered the quarters, Cordelia almost squealed in delight. There was a large living room which had several baby toys available for Connor. There was also a bassinet and a rocking chair amongst the normal sofas and chairs. The fireplace had a specialised grate in front of it to keep Connor from the flames. There were three doors leading off from the living room.

Cordy walked towards the first one and opened the door. Inside the room was a nursery set up. It was painted in muted blues with silver edging. There was a cot set up and a baby change table as well as several other things that Cordy may need while looking after Connor while he was a baby. She walked around the room and noticed several changes of clothes for Connor in several sizes. She grinned at the thought that Minerva had obviously thought of everything that she may need to raise Connor.

There was a connecting door in the nursery as well. Opening the door, Cordelia discovered her bedroom. The bed took up majority of the room and had black and red covers. The rest of her room had the colours slightly more muted but still there. She had a large mirror on one wall and plenty of closet space but unlike Connor's room, there was no clothing in them.

"I thought you might like to go to Diagon Ally and maybe London tomorrow to purchase your own clothing. I know you have an unique taste in fashion," Minerva explained to her niece.

"Thank you Aunt Minnie!" she screamed excitedly before hugging her aunt.

Finally she walked into the final room which turned out to be the bathroom. A large sunken bath tub with multiple taps filled the room. There was also a baby bath and a toilet within the room. Another large mirror was available and there was several cupboards for make up and other toiletries. Cordelia was amazed at the guest quarters. It was even better than what she had at her home in Sunnydale and when she lived in the hotel.

Remus shared a look with Minerva over Cordelia's expression. He loved watching her amazement at all they were offering to her. He shook his head slightly. What chance did he have at being with someone so full of life? 


	5. When to Return?

Since Minerva was teaching and couldn't take Cordelia shopping, she had told her that she had organised a former student to take her around London and Diagon Ally. But what Minerva hadn't said was who it was. So that morning found Cordelia pacing around wondering what the person she would be stuck with would be like.

She also worried about Connor but Minerva had told her not to. Apparently Remus had classes at different times to Minerva. So apparently the two of them had organised to stay with Connor when the other was teaching. Even though she had only met Remus a few days before, Cordelia found herself trusting him. She didn't understand why but then again she put it down to the whole familiar feeling of being a werewolf. He reminded her so much of Oz.

A few moments later, there was a knock on her door and she paused briefly, her automatic reflexes kicking in. Then she shook her head and walked towards the door. She was safe; no one knew where she was except for those who she trusted.

Opening the door, she saw someone who took her breath away. He was so different from what she usually liked but somehow it worked. He was tall, with a shock of red hair that was tied back loosely into a ponytail. He wore an earring in one ear that looked like some kind of fang. He seemed quite muscular underneath his jacket which looked like it was made from leather.

"Why hello, you must be Cordelia," he spoke first. "I'm Bill Weasley."

"Do you want to come in? I'll just be a moment," Cordelia offered. Her confidence was returning as she looked at Bill. As she once said to Buffy, when it comes to dating, she was the Slayer.

He followed her inside and watched as she gathered her coat and purse. She disappeared into one of the rooms, leaving him to look around her living room. It was rather bare, no family photos or anything. He didn't know anything about her really; he just knew she was related to his old professor.

"So are you enjoying Hogwarts so far?" he called to her.

"It's very different to what I am used to, but I am coping with the adjustment," she replied while walking back into the room. She flashed him a smile before continuing. "This place is very beautiful; you must have plenty of stories from your time here."

"Not as beautiful as some," he muttered quietly before continuing in a louder voice. "Maybe later, I'll share some of those stories with you."

Cordelia heard his muttered comment and blushed from the compliment. She ducked her head slightly and smiled. The sight had an immediate reaction within Bill. She was gorgeous. Hell, he was dreading meeting her considering that she was Minerva McGonagall's niece. He was expecting her to be a younger version of her right down to the severe bun.

"So shall we go?" he asked. He offered his arm to her which she took after a brief pause.

"Can we just make a detour via my aunt's office? I just want to let her know that we are going now."

With a brief nod, he led her through the corridors. Her face illuminating in surprise from the sights of the pictures moving and the stairs moving. She gasped at sight of Nearly Headless Nick but then waved happily at him.

"I'll wait out here," he told her once they got to Minerva's office.

"Thanks," she said before knocking on the door and entering.

Her aunt was sitting in a chair near her fireplace. She was nursing Connor who was refusing to drink his bottle. With one glance at the bottle, Cordelia knew why. It was missing the blood.

"Aunt Minnie, can I have the bottle for a second?" she asked before making a small cut in her palm.

Minerva handed it over and then watched in surprised as the baby in her arms responded to the smell of the blood from her niece's hand. Cordelia then allowed the blood to drip into the bottle and after it turned pink, she handed the bottle back to her aunt.

"Why did you do that?" Minerva asked.

"Remember Aunt Minnie, his parents were vampires. He does take after them in a number of ways. Including needing some blood, otherwise he won't eat. We think that he will grow out of needing the blood when he gets his teeth cause then he can get his nutrients from else where," Cordelia explained.

"That does seem to make sense."

"I'll pick up some pig's blood while in London," Cordy said. "I can't keep cutting myself."

With a quick kiss on Connor's forehead and a smile to her Aunt, Cordelia left the room.

Outside she found Bill Weasley taking to three students. She recognised one of them as Harry and she picked the other one as a relative of Bill. The third one was a girl around the age of Harry; her bushy hair covered her face.

"Hey Cordelia," Harry said quietly while the others were talking to each other.

"Hey Harry. What's going on?"

"Ron's upset that Bill is here, thinks he's here to spy on him," Harry sighed.

"Well it's good to see you not covered in pus."

His laughter gained the others attention and he was quick to introduce the others to her. With one look at the girl introduced as Hermonie, she knew she had someone to work on as a project. But she wouldn't say anything yet, no need to scare the poor girl.

"So are we right to go Bill?"

"Definitely am."

The two said goodbye and headed down the hallway. Part way down and Bill stopped and turned around. He called back to his brother.

"And Ron, Mum wants you to stay out of trouble this year. All of you!"

To say that Cordelia was amazed when she entered Diagon Ally was an understatement. Her eyes could barely take in all the sights that greeted her. There was people walking around in robes of all shades. There was owls and all kinds of unusual pets on offer. Since meeting her, for the first time he couldn't see the sadness in her eyes.

"So where to first?" she asked excitedly.

He took her towards Ollivander's. Although Professor McGonagall believed that Cordelia probably wouldn't be able to use a wand, she believed that there was no harm in trying. She had a theory that the Hellmouth may have suppressed any magical talents.

Bill opened the door and ushered Cordelia inside. He waited expectantly for the girl to be shocked by the appearance of Ollivander's as he looked slightly weird. But Cordelia didn't act the way he expected.

"Oh my god, you're a Wamandan demon. Do you have relatives in America?" she asked.

"Why Miss Chase, you would be correct. I understand you helped to save a clan over there. I am greatly in your debt. Why are you in London?"

"I… I needed…" she stumbled before breaking down.

"The news was true? Angelus is dead?"

"Yes. And…"

"And the others were killed protecting you and the Destroyer?" he asked softly, making sure that Bill didn't hear.

"Never refer to him as that again! He is just a baby," she hissed out after looking around the room. Bill was looking around the store, not paying attention to what was happening between the two at the front of the room.

"My apologies Miss Chase, I will refrain from calling him that again. His secret is safe with me," he replied. Raising his voice he continued. "Let's see which wand choses you…"

He handed her one and motioned her to wave it around.

"12 inch, willow, with slayer blood as a core."

Cordelia waved it but hoped that it wouldn't be the wand that would choose her. It just didn't feel right.

"No not at all. This one is 9 ½ inch, made from mahogany and with the core of a single unicorn hair."

Once again the wand didn't feel right in her hands and there was no reaction when she waved it. He snatched it away and kept giving her new ones to try. None worked and Cordelia was beginning to be depressed. Maybe she shouldn't be here, not in Diagon Ally and definitely not in Hogwarts.

Finally Ollivander handed her a wand which tingled in her hand. It felt like home and she waved it around to see diamond like sparkles in the air. She gasped and looked at the wand. It was perfect in her mind; delicate but at the same time strong.

"Wonderful dear! Absolutely wonderful," Ollivander shouted while clapping his hands. "11 inches, made from oak that was blessed by a priest and has a very unusual core but for your experiences I believe it works. Three drops holy water and a drop of blood from a half demon."

"Oh! Was it a Bracken demon?" she asked, hoping that it was.

"Yes, I believe you know the creature that was used in the core."

She smiled at the gift he had given her. She had another link to Doyle. No wonder it felt so right to her. She couldn't have asked for anything better.

"How much do I owe you for the wand?" she asked.

"Nothing my dear, consider it a thank you for saving my clan."

She smiled and him and turned to Bill. When he looked at her, she nodded and the two of them turned to leave.

"Thank you for everything Ollivander."

After plenty more shopping, Cordelia was finally beginning to tire. She had bought heaps of new robes to wear as well as 'muggle' clothes (as Bill had called them). She had also bought several new pairs of shoes, but there was one place remaining to look at. She wanted a pet for Connor as well as an owl for herself.

They walked into the store and Cordelia began looking around. There was a small black owl that looked like it was brooding. She laughed aloud at its expression and hurried to the shop keeper.

She organised to buy the owl and went to the next store to continue to shop for an animal for Connor. Although he was still extremely young, she wanted something that he could grow up with. A small kitten with red fur streaking through its dark brown seemed the perfect gift.

Bill then escorted her to an ice cream parlour where they sat down to eat an ice cream. Cordelia was patting the kitten and was deciding on a name for the two pets. She knew automatically what to call the owl, and Angelus fitted it perfectly. He had the brood down pat.

"I think that the kitten should be named Siren," Bill suggested as the kitten began to make a lot of noise.

"Nonsense, that is ridiculous!" Cordy laughed at him while settling the cat back down. "I'm thinking Wini."

"Wini?"

"After Winifred Burkle, one of my friends who were killed when I came here. She was so intelligent but also had two sides to herself. One was plain and normal, like the brown fur. But if someone threatened something she considered part of her family, she let them know. She got so angry, kind of like the angry red in the fur."

"She sounds like someone who would fit in well with our family."

Cordelia sobbed slightly and nodded. She missed them all so dearly and hoped that by some miracle that they managed to get out alive. But she knew that with Lilah leading the lawyers, it would have been bloodshed.

"Do you think you'll ever go back?" Bill asked.

"Some day but not right now, I wouldn't be able to cope."

"Well when you do, if you want someone to go with you, let me know and if I am still around, I'll come with you."

"Thanks Bill," she said. "Can we head back now?"

"Certainly." 


End file.
